Tense consolidation – French GCSE worksheets (Foundation & Higher)

A set of differentiated GCSE French worksheets (Foundation & Higher) centred on secure tense use through time coherence and viewpoint.
The Foundation version covers present, perfect and near future, while Higher focuses on perfect vs imperfect and future forms vs conditional.

This resource addresses a common GCSE issue: students may know how to form tenses, but not always when or why to use them.

The focus throughout is on temporal coherence – choosing tenses because they make sense in context, not because of a trigger word.

This is not a traditional tense consolidation worksheet.
Rather than drilling conjugation or practising tense formation in isolation, it focuses on meaning, viewpoint and consistency, so that tense choice becomes purposeful and controlled.

How the resource works

Page 1 – Anchoring time
Students work within one stable time frame. There is no tense choice to make – the focus is on sequence, habit and pattern, ensuring meaning is secure before any comparison.

Page 2 – Shifting viewpoint
The same sequence is rewritten in a different tense. Students explore how the narrator’s position in time changes and briefly rewrite from a new viewpoint, linking tense choice to perspective.

Page 3 – Controlled instability
Students encounter situations where more than one tense is possible. There are no obvious time markers, so choices must be justified through context and coherence. Errors are used diagnostically to reveal common habits such as tense switching or defaulting to familiar cues.

Page 4 – Meaning-led production
Students produce writing in a familiar context, crafting paragraphs in a specific time frame.

Resource features

• Foundation: core GCSE time frames, with an emphasis on secure temporal anchoring
• Higher: extended GCSE time frames, introducing flexibility of viewpoint and justification
• Tenses approached through time coherence and perspective, not drills or trigger words
• Tasks prioritise coherence over coverage, with stability before comparison
• Tense treated as a tool for meaning, rather than a test of range
• Designed for students who struggle to apply tenses in extended GCSE-style writing
• Available in PDF and editable PPTX, in colour and black-and-white, with a full answer key

Important note for teachers

This resource is designed to surface common tense misconceptions. Some tasks are intentionally challenging and benefit from brief teacher discussion.
It is intended for guided classroom use, rather than a cover or homework worksheet.

I hope you find it useful.

If you’d like related tense resources, visit my shop where you’ll find:

• French tenses workbook
• Tenses grammar mat

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